1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention is generally related to child restraint systems and more particularly to a child restraint system with a mechanism for redirecting side impact energy.
2. Description of Related Art
Child restraint systems such as vehicle safety seats or car seats are well known and are employed to provide a relatively safe seating solution for children when seated in a vehicle. Such car seats are designed to rest on the dedicated vehicle seat and define a seating surface that is more suited to fit a child than the vehicle's seat. The car seat provides a safer seating solution than the vehicle's dedicated seat for the child, particularly in a vehicle crash. It is well known that these types of child car seats help protect a child from injury during such a crash.
A side impact crash occurs when a vehicle is struck on the side, rather than on the front of the vehicle during a crash. Side impact crashes are known to cause a large percentage of the more severe crash related injuries. Many car seats have been designed or at least promoted to include side impact crash protection elements or design enhancements to address side impact crash forces. It is known that consumers recognize these side impact elements and enhancements as a safety feature.
Thus, many car seat manufacturers note some type of side impact protection in their product literature, whether the car seat is specifically design with such a feature or not. Such claims are typically based on testing to and/or compliance with a side impact standard or protocol or based on simply having a feature that may improve side impact protection during a crash. The United States currently does not have a side impact crash standard for these types of car seats or child restraint systems. Manufacturers, or at least those that test for side impact performance, have, as a result, developed their own internal crash tests and performance standards for side impact events. Europe does have such a standard in place.
Some manufacturers have specifically designed and implemented car seats that have been upgraded or enhanced with side impact features. For example, BRITAX™ and DOREL™ employ various types of deformable bladders placed at the side wings on the seat back. These deformable bladders are intended to control air flow to manage energy, i.e., dissipate energy in a controlled manner upon impact, during a side impact event. However, in practice these bladders may deform too easily under low impact forces. Thus, these types of bladders may not provide much energy dissipation under higher impact forces, such as during a high velocity side impact test or crash where the vehicle door intrudes into the vehicle interior space and directly impacts the car seat or child restraint system.